First-Year Students Gather For Oil Pastel Coloring On The Great Lawn

By Raina Roller

This week, residents of the freshman dorm buildings came together for an evening of oil pastel coloring on the great lawn, set up by sophomore resident assistant (RA) Kaya Ilas. Students bonded with friends and even met new residents while enjoying a fun craft and watching the sunset.

(From left to right) Lilee Cecchini, Keara Erlenmeyer, Molly Domino, Abby Henning showing of their newly made artwork (Photo by Raina Roller)

The event brought residents of Farside, Crossroads and Central together for an enjoyable evening of oil pastel coloring. Residents first took a piece of paper and then chose their colored pastels to create a design of their choosing. Ilas came up with the idea while sitting on the great lawn with friends. “There was a Sunday when my friends and I were coloring out here, and I thought this would be a fun event to make art outside,” Ilas said.

Some of the many vibrant paintings made during the event (Photo by Raina Roller)

By hosting events for their residents, RAs have the opportunity to bring people together, whether they share a common interest or simply come to enjoy social time with other residents and friends. This event is just one example of the many events that Purchase’s RAs set up and plan. When asked about the planning process, Ilas said, “I had to write a proposal, as you have to for all of your events, and then I had to look online and find all of the materials that I needed to buy.”

Residents who attended the event felt that it was a great way to spend time outside with other residents. “I thought the event was fun, I liked sitting in a circle talking with my friends and making questionable art pieces,” said Abby Henning, a freshman Central resident. Many are also looking forward to more residential events in the future. “I think this event was really good, it was good to get out of my comfort zone a little bit and go to an event with more people. I’m going to go to more events because I need to branch out more,” said Keara Erlenmeyer, a freshman Central resident.

A group of freshman dorm residents creating their artwork while enjoying the great lawn (Photo by Raina Roller)

The goal of the event was to encourage connection and relaxation. “[I wanted] to bring people outside of their rooms and create a relaxing art space where students could connect with one another,” Ilas said.